by Playfuls Staff |
28th January 2007
In a new national survey, 5,665
high school students said they are driving under extremely dangerous conditions
- fatigue, talking on cell phones, strong emotions, multiple passengers - and
many are still not [more] wearing seatbelts. The National Teen Driver Survey,
released by The Children's
Hospital of
Philadelphia and State Farm,
represents 10.6 million 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students in all public high
schools in the
United States.
Ninety percent of all teens said
friends drive while talking or sending text messages on a mobile phone. An
equal number say their friends speed. The idea that teens are prone to driving
distracted and at high rates of speed is not surprising. But researchers said
they're beginning to understand teens' emotions may play a significant role.
"Research has told us a lot
about which teens get into crashes, but we don't know enough about the
why," says Flaura K. Winston, M.D., Ph.D., co-scientific director and
founder of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and principal investigator
of the National Teen Driver study. "With this survey, we asked teens
directly: what is happening when your peers drive that is making them
unsafe?"
According to the survey 75
percent of teens see peers driving fatigued, 90 percent see passenger behavior
that distracts the driver and 20 percent of 11th graders report being in a
crash as a driver in the past year
The survey also revealed the
important role that the teens see for their parents. 66 percent say that they
care about their parents' opinion on cell phone use while driving, 56 percent
of them rely on parents to learn how to drive and 39 percent of their parents
provide total financial responsibility for their driving
"Teens described a driving
environment that would be challenging even to experienced drivers," says
Dr. Winston. "Combine this driving environment with lack of training and
inexperience and you have a deadly mix."
In 2005, almost 7,500 15-to
20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal crashes according to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fatality rate for drivers aged 16 to
19 years, based on miles driven, is four times that of drivers aged 25 to 69
years.
"Our aim is to help young
drivers make safe decisions," says Laurette Stiles, Vice President
Strategic Resources at State Farm. "We want to give them tools to help
them avoid hazards and ultimately to save lives and make our roads safer for
all."
The National Teen Driver Survey
is the first phase of a multidisciplinary initiative of research, education and
programmatic interventions that can be implemented nationally to save lives.
Under an existing alliance between The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
and State Farm, this initiative is dedicated to taking research results and
translating them into nationwide action to save teen's lives.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm have a
proven track record in conducting research and implementing programming that
have helped reduce injuries and fatalities to children in motor vehicle crashes
through Partners for Child Passenger Safety.
